


Calibrations and other diversions

by 8_Palaven_8



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Love, Painting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-17
Updated: 2018-01-17
Packaged: 2019-03-06 04:10:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13403181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/8_Palaven_8/pseuds/8_Palaven_8
Summary: After waking in the middle of the night, Shepard sneaks down to the main battery to seek the comfort of her lovely Turian and discovers his new hobby.





	Calibrations and other diversions

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!  
> This is my second attempt to write a short fic in English, so don't be surprised to find mistakes, but please be forgiving because I'm not a native speaker. Constructive criticism is always welcome as well as kudos or a simple comment <3

Even after all this time with Garrus on the Normandy, SR-1 or SR-2, it fascinates me again and again how few belongings he had – just a medium-sized duffel bag and the long crate for his weapons. So it really surprised me, when we picked him and the newly announced Primarch off of Menae, as he grabbed an inconspicuous silver box. With so much going on I just forgot about it and the days were flowing into one another, time passed until one sleepless night.  
I couldn’t get back to sleep after a nightmare and thought about pinging Garrus to come upstairs but decided against it – the soft humming of my working boyfriend's subvocals in addition to the dimmed lights in the main battery would help me to calm down. After a short ride in the elevator, I tiptoed across the empty mess hall, climbed the few stairs and tapped the access code to let myself in. The door wasn’t even halfway open when Garrus jumped nearly a foot high, whirled around and tried to hide something behind his back.

"S-Shepard…what are you doing here…in the middle of the night?“ he stammered, mandibles tight to his face.

"Couldn’t sleep and thought I come down here to you. Am I interrupting something?“ I asked with squinted eyes and tried to get a peek around him.

"Nothing…absolutely nothing!“ My right eyebrow started to rise up and that made him even more nervous.

"Yeah, sure…then why are you so jumpy?“ I teased and took a step left.

"I don’t know what you are talking about. Uhm…how about you go back upstairs and I'll be there in a minute?“ he asked, turning a little bit to keep me from getting a look at his back.

"I would feel better if I could stay down here…it is…not so quiet…please?“ I answered and barely suppressed a shudder as memories about my dream crept back into my mind. His resistance dropped immediately and a sympathetic look replaced the embarrassment on his face.

"Of course, Sweety. Come here.“

Five steps later I was right in front of him and without hesitation he wrapped me up in his arms, pressed his nose into my hair and just held me for a few moments. He guided me to his cot to the far right of the room, pulled back the covers and I laid down with a sigh.

"What were you doing?“

"You’re such a nosy thing, aren’t you?“ he chuckled as he sat by my side.

"Am definitely not!“ I protested with a smile.

"Oh, you are. It was nothing important. Scoot over for me, would you?“

After a little shuffling, we found a comfortable position, him on his back and me curled against his side, with our entwined hands on his chest.  
"What was it this time?“ he murmured, talons combing my tangled hair.

"The ocean on Desponia…it was cold, silent and dark. I saw the corpses of Jenkins, Ashley and Mordin floating around, faces frozen in the moments of their deaths, staring at me. Rotten fingers grabbing my legs, nails scratching my skin, trying to drag me further into the abyss…“ I recalled, shuddering with the sudden feeling of freezing wetness on my skin.  
My voice was just a whisper, but it contained all my emotions, the fear, hopelessness and sorrow about my lost friends. Garrus didn’t say anything – there was nothing to say to make me feel better, he knew it and we were way past the point where we tried to use platitudes for each others comfort. Soaking up the heat he was radiating, listening to the alien yet familiar rhythm of his heartbeat, my body and mind calmed down enough to truly relax in his embrace.

"Have you tried to…get these thoughts out of your head?“ he asked hesitantly.

"What do you mean?“

"Well…there are a few simple techniques to get your brain a little relief from this negativity. Talking is one method and I’m always happy to share the burden with you, you know that, right?"  
I nodded once. I was so damn lucky to have this man by my side – he was there from the beginning, understood me like no other and often knew me better than I did myself.

"Another method would be through writing diary. And there are a few suggestions that you could use any form of art to express yourself or just focus enough to push aside everything else on your mind.“

"So?“

"What I wanted to say is: if there is a time you do not want to talk about it, then use one of these. I know they do help a bit.“ There was this nervous buzzing in his Subvocals and it dawned on me what he was doing a few minutes prior.

"So I did interrupted you. Garrus, you don’t have to-“

"Hush, Sweety. I am always here for you, no matter what time, place or circumstance, you hear me?“

"And I deeply appreciate it, but-“

"No ‚buts‘. Period.“ The gaze of his blue eyes was so intense, burned its way right through to my soul and left nothing to discuss.

"I…alright. I‘ll try.“

"Good.“ Satisfied with the outcome, he relaxed back into the pillows and continued the combing. A few minutes of silence passed, but my curiosity got the better of me.

"Which method do you use?“

"Doesn’t matter.“

"Garruuuus“ I pouted.

"You’re not letting this go, are you?“ he snorted.

"Nope. Tell me. Pleeeeease!“

"It’s stupid. I’m not good at it.“

"And even if you’re horrible at it, tell me. Maybe I decide to be horrible at it, too“ I giggled.

"Very funny, Shepard. I started a few attempts on…painting, every now and then. Mostly nothing more than randomly applied colors with no real headline behind it.“ The buzzing got louder and there he was – my sweet awkward and self-conscious Garrus.

"You’d mentioned that you wanted to learn how to paint, back when we were at Grissom Acadamy. There is nothing to be ashamed of. I can’t draw or paint, even if my life depended on it. Show me, please.“  
Heaving a sigh, he reached into the silver box he brought onto the Normandy, rummaged around and pulled out a large folder. Using the zipper to open it, he put it down on his lap and nodded, giving me permission to give in to my curiosity. I sat up, my thigh still pressed against his warm hide and flicked through the different sheets of thick paper. A few were painted with different shades of purple, gold and grey, some were a mix of green, yellow and orange. 

One piece caught my complete attention: right in the middle was an object, left half shaped like a human heart, colored in black, vibrant red and bright green. The right half seemed like a turian heart, filled with steely grey, warm gold and icy blue. Where the two halves met, blue and green mixed, creating a deep turquoise that reminded me of the carribean sea.  
With watery eyes I looked up to him, getting the meaning of this painting: we were two halves of a whole, different, but exactly the same in our strong love for the other.

"I love you“ I whispered.

Sitting up, he smiled, laying his palms on my cheeks and touching our foreheads together.

"I love you, too.“


End file.
